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Title:: Solutions to the Dilemmas of One-Village-One-Lawyer System from the Perspective of Policy Process: A Case Study on M City in Guangdong Province

Abstract:: Nowadays, people often make public complaints in the form of letters and visits to relevant governmental bodies to safeguard their legal rights. In this context, the M city, initiated the one-lawyer-one-village system in Guangdong province, requiring every village to be equipped with a lawyer to offer legal aid. However, the system has not been brought into full play due to the practical challenges as follows: poor promotion from the government, weak performance of the village committees, inaction of the lawyers, inertial behaviors of the masses, insufficient supervision, and lack of effective assessment and feedback systems. Thus, there are still a lot of public complaints filed through letters and visits. A saying goes like this: laws alone cannot carry themselves into practice. Only when a policy is linked with a whole process of execution, assessment, supervision and feedback can it achieve its purposes. During this process, every part plays a critical role. The objectives of one-village-one-lawyer policy should be achieved by its enforcement bodies, as well as effective supervision, a workable assessment system and prompt feedback.